The African continent has the second largest population in the world, at about one billion people. Well over one thousand languages are spoken by the people of Africa. Some estimates put this number closer to two thousand. The largest religion in Africa is Islam, followed by Christianity. The African population is approximately 14.72% of the world’s population (as of 2009). The oldest human remains ever discovered were found in Ethiopia. They are approximately 200,000 years old.

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA

1. The Gambia has only one university.

2. Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s only
spanish speaking country.

3. South Africa is the most visited
African country.

4. Nigeria has the richest Black people in Africa.

5. Samuel Eto’o is the highest paid Footballer of all time, he received about £350,000 weekly in Russia in 2011.

6. A person from Botswana is called
a Motswana, the plural is Batswana.
7. A person from Lesotho is called a
Mosotho.

8. A person from Niger is called a
Nigerien.

8. A person from Burkina Faso is called a Burkinabe.

9. Nigeria has won more football
cups than England.

10. Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the world’s most educated President with 7 degrees, two of them are Masters.

11. Al-Ahly of Egypt is the richest club in Africa.

12. Didier Drogba is Chelsea’s
highest goalscorer in European competition.

13. Johannesburg, South Africa is
the most visited city in Africa.

14. Zinedine Zidane wanted to play
for Àlgeria, but the selector rejected him, saying they are already many players like him in the team.

15. President Jacob Zuma was given a special award by Fifa for refereeing on Robben Island during his years as a political prisoner.

16. President Robert Mugabe was
jailed for 11 years for fighting for freedom.

17. President Robert Mugabe is
Africa’s oldest Head of State and the world’s second-oldest Head of State. He was born in 1924.

18. The Seychelles are the most educated Africans. Seychelles’ literacy rates (Adult: 92%, Youth: 99%) Zimbabwe is 2nd (Adult:
91.2%,Youth: 99%).

19. Rwanda is a better country for
gender equality than England and USA.

20. Somalia got its first ATM on
October 7, 2014.

21. South Africa has the most Grammy award winners in Africa.

22. Ethiopia has the most airports in
Africa.

23. Ethiopia’s economy is growing
faster than China’s.

24. Eritrea’s President, Isaias Afwerki is the least richest President in Africa.

25. Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest
independent country, it has existed for over 3,000 years without
being colonised.

26. Haile Selassie 1 was the 225th
and last Emperor of Ethiopia.

27. Nigeria has the most monarchs
in the world.

28. Angola has more Portuguese
speakers than Portugal.

29. President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos has ruled Angola since 1979.

30. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is Africa’s longest-serving Head of State. He has ruled Equatorial Guinea since August 3, 1979 when he overthrew his uncle, Francisco Nguema. His son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue is his Vice President and will succeed him if he
resigns. He started ruling Dos Santo

31. George Weah of Liberia is the
first man to win World, European and African footballer of the year
in the same year.

32. Swaziland is the only remaining
absolute mornach in the world.

33. The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa followed by Swaziland.

34. King Sobhuza ll of Swaziland took the longest time in reigning Swaziland, 62 years as he was crowned in 1921 and died in August 1982 at the age of 83 years.

34.1. King Sobhuza II of swaziland, married 70 wives, who gave him 210 children between 1920 and 1970.

35. Zimbabwe is the only country in the world where almost everyone was a billionaire at one point

Interesting Africa Facts – The continent

Africa is the second largest continent on earth, approximately 11.7 million square miles.
Africa straddles the equator and is the only continent to extend from the northern temperate zone to the southern temperate zone.
Africa is the hottest continent on earth.
Sudan is Africa’s largest country (968,000 square miles).
Africa covers 6 per cent of the earth’s total surface and 20.4 per cent of the total land area.
Cairo is the continents largest city.
Long before humans were around (the early Mesozoic Era) Africa was joined to the other continents in a massive continent called Pangaea. Over millions of years, this huge continent broke apart shaping the world landscape as we know it today.

Interesting Africa Facts – Animals
The worlds largest land animal is the African elephant.
The worlds tallest animal, the giraffe, lives in Africa.
The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah, lives in Africa.
Africa is home to the worlds largest reptile, the Nile crocodile.
The gorilla, which can be found in the continents jungles, is the worlds largest primate.

Explore the pages of this site to discover more about the amazing African continent.